Jim Sheridan to Direct Baseball/World War II Drama, PLAYING WITH THE ENEMY

Director Jim Sheridan‘s last film, Dream House, did not go well. It didn’t go well to the point of Sheridan actually wanting his name removed from the credits. Hopefully, the In America director will have better luck with his next picture, Playing with the Enemy. Deadline reports that Sheridan has signed on to helm the drama, which is based on Gary W. Moore‘s non-fiction novel of the same name. The story is based on Moore’s father, Gene Moore, a 15-year-old baseball prodigy who was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940, and used his time in the Navy to create a relationship with German POWs in Louisiana during World War II. The plot also involves the father-son relationship between the Gene and Gary Moore. It sounds like a good story, and definitely in the vein of what audiences are looking for from their baseball movies. As we’ve seen with 42 and Moneyball, the focus has turned away from competition and to the drama surrounding the game.

Sheridan will set to work on Playing with the Enemy after he finishes up on Sheriff Street. Hit the jump for a synopsis of Moore’s novel.

Here’s the official synopsis of Gary W. Moore’s Playing with the Enemy:

Driven by word of mouth and the author’s heroic efforts to tell the world his father’s story, Playing with the Enemy was a surprise hardcover hit for its independent publisher. Gary Moore’s book about his father’a baseball phenom whose future in the majors was cut short by World War II and a fateful occurrence during a top secret mission for the U.S. Navy is a warm-hearted memoir of faded dreams and new hope that is destined for the bestseller lists. Filled with memorable characters from an extraordinary time in our country’s history, it is a truly redemptive story that will be read and reread for generations to come. [Amazon]